Here comes the sun...

---

Hola!
We are enjoying the sun in the south of Spain. It is about 32 degrees here everyday and we are loving it. This is the first bit of real summer weather we have had this year so we are absorbing every ray!

We got into Almeria at 9:00 local time on September 2nd, that´s noon Pacific time on the first day of school for those keeping track. It was a bit late so we found a Hostal and spent one expensive night there. (Expensive is a very relative term as it was still MUCH cheaper than Britain) The next day we moved to the youth hostel across town and then headed straight to the beach. We didn´t get burnt though (suprisingly) because there were a couple of protective clouds in the sky. We swam in the Mediterranean for the first time and it was nice. Not too hot, not too cold.

The next day we went to a Moorish castle (aka Alcazaba) on the hillside of Almeria. There were some fantastic views of the city and many gardens as well. We thought we saw old stuff in the UK, but this is a whole new eschelon of old! This Alcazaba was built in the 10th century by the berbers of North Africa.

So far we are enjoying how different it is here in Spain. We´re in a part of the country that is not so touristy so not many people speak english. It isn´t like Puerto Vallarta where everybody and their dog spoke english to us! We´ve had to quickly learn a smattering of spanish just to get by. This feels more like travelling.

We are off to Cabo de Gata today.

Adios

---

Photos

Orkneys
A very cute small shed overlooking the Scapa Flow in Stromness.

Orkneys
Looking to the old farm in Mousland where the Dyer´s once lived.

Orkneys
After much research, we are pretty sure we found the exact house the Dyer´s once rented back in the 1800s. High ceilings eh?

Orkneys
Hiking in Nether Mousland.

Orkneys
5000 year old Ring of Brodgar. Take that Stonehenge!

Orkneys
Alex cooking haggis and black pudding (made of dried blood!) at the Gun viewpoint overlooking the Stromness Golf Course.

Almeria, Spain
Our first day in Spain. What a huge contrast from the Orkneys.

Almeria, Spain
Alex looking over his kingdom at the Alcazaba.

Almeria
Look up... Way up!

Almeria
High above Almeria.

Almeria
Cactus. Don´t touch!

Almeria
The blue Mediterranean.

Almeria
The city and the sea.

Comments

[MIke]

Oh my
Not a lot I can say, but I'll try to pick my jaw up off the floor and muster a 'wow'. Pretty beautiful country you guys are in! I guess the thing I really want to know (and others probably do too), 'you didn't actually eat the haggis did you Alex? And the pudding?'

[Jay and Alex]

Haggis
Hell yes. The haggis was the tastiest thing I ate in Scotland, and I´m not just saying that! The black pudding is an acquired taste however.